'When They See Us' Wins Big At Critics' Choice Awards After Snubs
Ava DuVernay’s searing Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” bounced back from its Golden Globes snubs by winning big at the 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday night.
The Jharrel Jerome-fronted series that reframed the real-life stories of the “Exonerated Five” ― a group of five Black and Latino teenagers who were wrongfully accused of raping a woman in Central Park in 1989 ― picked up the award for Best Limited Series at the 25th annual ceremony.
After the star-studded crowd rose to its feet, the Oscar-nominated director seemingly addressed the lack of awards recognition at the Globes in her acceptance speech by thanking the Critics Choice Association for “finally letting us take the stage.”
“We made a four-part, five-hour film that was an act of love,” DuVernay said, before thanking the cast and crew, as well as Netflix for letting a “black woman do her things.”
"Let a Black Woman do her thing." @Ava. Watch Ava's full Acceptance Speech after winning the #CriticsChoice Award for Best Limited Series for #WhenTheySeeUs. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/gMEVVIYdNR
— ARRAY (@ARRAYNow) January 13, 2020
“This series began with a tweet from Raymond Santana and now he, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and the mighty Korey Wise, stand for something larger than they ever imagined,” DuVernay shared. “They stand for justice, they shine bright like the gems they always were but that we never saw.”
“If you watched their story and felt something in that moment, I invite you to doing something,” she continued. “There’s no right thing to do. Do what you feel where you are, but don’t let your anger and sadness be all.”
DuVernay previously addressed the series being completely shut out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which determines the Golden Globe nominations, on Twitter following fan outcry.
“These things are a cherry on top,” DuVernay tweeted in response to a fan the day the nominations...
